5.4 L'1K (L'Inca, got it?), 13, boulevard du Temple in the 3rd, 01.42.71.20.00, open 7/7 (because it's in the 1K Hotel after all), has been open at night (with a 60 E a la carte menu) for 5 weeks and with a very different menu (crudos aka ceviches and cosidos) at lunch for 1 week. I had read in the NYT how Peruvian flavors were sweeping London and was intrigued that two places had opened recently in Paris. The exterior is a shocking blue, the interior subdued save for the iguanas and goofy Inca masked chairs and as you can see, one picks a 1st (crudo) and a main (cosido) and a leche in small plates for 16 and larger plates for 25 E.
Madame who knows more about all food than anyone else in the world (MWKMAAFTAEITW) ordered a ceviche of daurade; Colette had the tirado of maigre (the difference between a ceviche & tirado here being that the former is marinated in coconut milk and the latter in lime juice) and I had a ceviche of poulpe; we disagreed on which ones worked best but I was only impressed by the maigre.
For mains, MWKMAAFTAEITW and Colette had the chicken which they let me finish which is an indication of their lack of enthusiasm and I thought my beef was superb but the chimichurra awful. Each dish came with a side dish - black rice, quinoa or asparagus - none awful but not head-snapping-back quality. All agreed the wine I had chosen was better than expected, if not "pas mal."
Desserts were another disappointment and none of us finished either the pineapple or raspberry concoctions we had ordered.
Our bill, with 80 cl of sparkling water (9 E), a bottle and glass of red Sancerre (35 E) and two coffees (8 E) came to 90 E a couple.
Go? I'm sure ex-Top Chef Julien Burbaud will find better suppliers (we talked to him at the end about just that) and hit his stride but I cannot in good faith recommend lunch now. (A word to the wise; lunch is raw fish, so if you can't "do"that, stay away, and dinner is totally different, rated 3/5 hearts by Emmanuel Rubin, so you might try that).
